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LOUISIANA La. - Of the five players who have lined up at running back for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun football squad this season, only Josh Harrison is anywhere close to full health.
So how are the Cajuns ranked 13th nationally in rushing?
"We're extremely deep," Harrison said Wednesday as the UL squad prepared for its Saturday Sun Belt Conference road contest at Middle Tennessee. "We all have different strengths, but we all can do the job. If I go down, there's a guy right behind me that's ready to step in."
The 1-5 Cajuns hope no other rushers go down. They're averaging more rush yards (230.7) than anybody in the league despite: (a) season starter Chester Johnson going out for the season with a shoulder injury in the opener against Texas; (b) redshirt freshman Caleb Rubin spraining an ankle in game two against Eastern Michigan; (c) sophomore squadman Abdule Levier slowed by a groin pull prior to the Northwestern game, and (d) natural freshman backup Tyrell Fenroy suffering a concussion early last week against Arkansas State.
That leaves Harrison, who flung his 5-foot-7, 175-pound body into the fray Thursday at ASU and finished with a 17-carry, 87-yard, two-touchdown performance. Impressive, considering he'd seen no action in four of UL's five previous games and had only three carries all year.
"With all of us, it doesn't matter who's in there," said the Copperas Cove, Texas, product. "If one of us played the whole game, our totals would probably be about the same."
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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Harrison's been in this role before, coming from deep on the depth chart to featured back. As a redshirt freshman in 2003, he was pushed into action late in the year and turned in a 63-yard, two-TD game at Florida International and scored a touchdown in UL's four-overtime win over MTSU to end the season.
That year, and again last year, Cajun running backs coach Brian Jenkins was questioned for utilizing so many running backs. Now, with the rash of injuries, he's glad to have that experience.
"I'll take having as many guys as I can," Jenkins said. "But as long as we have one guy that can go, we'll be all right."
Both Fenroy and Rubin went through full-speed drills Wednesday, but Harrison got the bulk of the work with the first unit and quarterback Michael Desormeaux - who had a breakout game of his own Thursday with 174 rush yards and a score.
In all, the Cajuns rushed for 457 yards last Thursday, the second-highest single-game total in school history behind only the record 513 yards against Tulane on Nov. 1, 1986. UL also lost that one in heartbreaking fashion, 42-39.
"I think we showed everybody that our running game is here to stay," Harrison said. "We've been trying to establish the run every game, and the O-line has been outstanding."
The Cajuns haven't had under 170 yards in any game since the season opener, and their 1,384 yards through six games is already in range of last year's season-long 1,680 total. And last season's rush total was the highest since 1996.
"Every year our yards have increased," Harrison said. "We had a goal to be the best in the Sun Belt, and so far we're doing that."
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